NV Aspasie Champagne, Cépages d’Antan Brut (12.0%). Bright light gold, nice visible fizziness. Accessible nose of pear, apple, peach fuzz, light earthiness and maybe even herbaceous, this more so than any chalk or minerality. Light-bodied and tight, dry, dusty. Yet the fruit close to tropical in character with green apple notes. Lemon and lime citrus with minor yeastiness. For me it’s on the wound up side but very nice. 40% Arbane, 40% Petit Meslier, 20% Pinot Blanc.
2017 Benoît Déhu Pinot Meunier, Champagne, La Rue des Noyers Zero Dosage (12.0%). Darkened gold with a broadly dispersed fizziness, below average shine. Round, heavy nose, slabs of lemon, solid and ripe apricot and peach, floral, touch of mint, very satisfying. Full-bodied, spreads itself far and wide. The acidity isn’t bad but can’t cinch the belt. Fuzzy, fresh orchard fruits. The lemon verges on white grapefruit. Zingy, no yeastiness, just fresh. Like it. (Disgorged April 6, 2022, aged 11 months in barrel)
2017 Étienne Calsac Chardonnay, Champagne, Avize, Grand Cru Clos des Malandries Brut Nature (12.0%). Deepened gold hue, visually flat if not filmy, no real fizziness. Smells older, not maderized more so an intentional element, otherwise there’s lemon meringue and underripe orchard fruit. Medium-bodied, super lean and bitingly acidic. More of the apple, pear skin and lemon zest but not much else I can register. Perhaps something akin to tree bark. To my taste more interesting than tasty. (Disgorged May 2021, 35% aged in oak barrel)
NV Clément Perseval Champagne, Premier Cru Rosé Extra Brut (12.5%). Displays a metallic pink color with a dispersed pétillance, lighter at the rims. Vinous nose with a good cleansing presence, plenty of cherry, peach, strawberry fruit, has good counter in the chalk dust and minerally sparkle. Medium-bodied, broad but not deep. Muscular acidity, dry, not too dry. Succinct and snappy apple, strawberry, cherry fruit with, again, the supporting components. Finishes on a dime. Could argue needs a decant. Nice. Unspecified percentages of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier. (2018/2017 vintages, disgorged February 2023)
1996 Trimbach Riesling, Alsace, Clos Ste. Hune (13.0%). Fully bronzed, fairly dull, same core to rims, Looks more older than old. The nose has some lift but, sadly, there’s not much to lift, meager portions of oil slick, rubber, orange peel, some garden herbs, paucity of fruit, disappointing. Close to full-bodied, oxidized with the acidity smothered, if there. Dough and sour naval orange. Sometimes wines considered immortal wines are not in fact immortal.
2012 Gaja Chardonnay, Piedmont, Langhe, “Rossj-Bass” (13.5%). Flat, if glowing, green-yellow hues, consistent to the rims. Boisterous nose of white to pink grapefruit with an oily, smoky patina, tropical pineapple and guava notes, smooths out well before the dissolve. Medium-bodied with a sour and puckering mouth entry. Dominated by citrus. Thankfully the acidity pulsates more than taking a more mean-spirited stance. Find it takes a little getting used to, comes off more like Sauvignon Blanc. Tight finish.
2002 Huet Chenin Blanc, Vouvray, Le Mont, Sec (12.0%). Light amber, not that darkened, average shine, weak rims. The nose is flat to me not betraying overt oxidation as much as sheer age, the doughiness is not heightened, dried apricots and pears, cinnamon, not much jumps out at you. Full-bodied, flat here as well with more noticeable oxidation. The acidity went AWOL. Dry kumquat, pineapple, apricot fruit. Lifelessness, the curse of 2002 strikes again.
2012 Robert Chevillon Pinot Noir, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Les Cailles (13.5%). Solid purple core, broad garnet rims, youthful. The nose is tight then more billowy, releases late, a mix of blackberry to raspberry fruit, sandalwood, poor dirt, unsure how to judge. Light to medium-bodied, the tannin is over the top for the weight. Leans more on stone, gravel, dirt here. Orange zest with the same berry fruit. Today it is okay but, candidly, I can’t guess if it is going anywhere down the road.
2019 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, Estate Vineyard Monopole, Ten (14.5%). Fat, saturated ruby-violet, spotlessly clean. Nose of cranberry, strawberry, rhubarb evokes sourness, piles on lemon zest and what smells to me like American oak, in the end manages to avoid being over the top. Medium-bodied, the acidity is out of whack with red berry fruit rather than in lockstep. The oak is both creamy and toasty here, notes of dill, not as oppressive as expected. In the end nothing beyond fruit and oak.
2001 Eric Texier Syrah, Rhône, Côte-Rôtie, Vieilles Vignes (13.0%). Cloudy purple core, dark ruby rims, not showing all that much age. The nose is total sous bois funk, witch hazel, the reddish fruit fading, to me not volatile as much as fully matured without sufficient glue to hold it together. Full-bodied, the tannin fully resolved. Thus the acidity has to push the boulder forward. Here too the fruit is fading yet in a genteel fashion. Diffuse finish. Past peak but I can still find something attractive in wines like this.
2018 Tony Bornard Trousseau, Jura, Vin de France, Le Ginglet “Triffaut” [synonym for Trousseau] (12.9%). Completely cloudy and opaque, red clay to brighter ruby, orange rims. Volatile nose of merde/flatulence, high-toned green notes, blood orange and strawberry pie, hard to take deeper sniffs. Light-bodied, the acidity hurls it left and right without remorse. Tart rhubarb, strawberry, blueberry fruit. Here too green and biting. Have to imagine this will have its fans but not a wine for me.
